High-school baseball: Deeds speak loudly for Gahanna coach

Quiet man Mike Shade probably thought he had spilled his life story on the sidewalk for everyone to see during a 20-minute interview.

Mark Znidar, The Columbus Dispatch

Quiet man Mike Shade probably thought he had spilled his life story on the sidewalk for everyone to see during a 20-minute interview.

He spoke about growing up in Whitehall, playing baseball for idol Roger Welsh at Capital and his appreciation for the administration allowing him to coach varsity baseball at Gahanna since 1992.

In reality, Shade, who has the Lions in their second straight Division I state tournament, left the glass almost full to the brim.

“Did Mike tell you that he was the first baseball player to be inducted into the Capital athletic hall of fame?” wife Cathi said.

He did not.

“Did Mike tell you that he was just inducted into the Central District baseball coaches’ hall of fame?” she said.

Nope.

“Or that he helped raise money to build a new high-school baseball field?” she said (approximately $88,000).

No.

Shade has won 378 games and six district championships, and has had many of his pupils go on to play in college. But getting that information out of him is like a detective trying to interrogate a suspect.

At one point this season, the Lions (17-13) lost six straight games and seemed destined to watch most of the tournament from the grandstands. They play North Royalton (21-7) in a semifinal on Friday at Huntington Park.

Gahanna defeated Olentangy Orange and St. Charles in the district tournament — the team’s fifth district title in seven seasons — and took down Grove City and Olentangy Liberty in the regional.

“Coach only got really mad once, and that was when we got run-ruled by Columbus Academy,” all-state first baseman Evan White said. “He’s calm most of the time. After most losses, he just tells us to keep fighting. He’s great to play for. A lot of people didn’t expect us to get this far, and Coach had a lot to do with it.”

Shade credits Welsh for molding him. Enrolling at Capital was a natural. Parents Gene and Julia and sister, Theresa, graduated from the university. Gene also is in the hall of fame.

As a senior in 1979, Shade was named to the NCAA Division III All-America team as a center fielder.

“(Welsh) always used the words casually intense with regard to attitude during a game,” Shade said. “That’s the approach we take at Gahanna. You have to play loose, and you’ve got to play focused. You can’t get too high or too low. Go out and have fun. Play the game to your personality. Put your stamp on the game."

The expression Shade carried after a come-from-behind 8-4 victory over Liberty in the regional final can best be described as blissful. The Lions had been an 11th seed.

Shade confessed he got angry after the debacle against Academy, but such outbursts are rare.

“You must correct a situation,” he said. “Sure, I get mad. Our approach for that Academy game was poor. The next day, we had a good practice, and then we got a win over Pickerington Central. You tell the players, ‘I’m mad, but I still love you.’ They are my guys.”

When Shade starts something, he’s in it for the long haul. He and Cathi were married in 1986. He has been a sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade health teacher in Gahanna for 36 years. His connection with Lions baseball started in 1983 as the freshman coach.

His mother keeps score almost every game. Gene passed away two years ago.

“I’m kind of stuck on baseball,” Shade said. “It’s a great game. There always is a challenge."

Even the team’s venue has been challenging. Shade, former coach Brian Hull and the players’ fathers built the varsity and junior varsity diamonds.

“And this past winter we had space heaters going while we worked on the press box,” Cathi said.

Cathi spoke about how former players routinely return to watch games.

“But Mike’s students also come back to say hello,” she said. “Did he tell you that?”